This is an important year for Arts and Crafts with the long awaited exhibition at the V & A Museum (International Arts and Crafts). It therefore seems fitting that we mark this year as special. 30 years ago in conjunction with the V & A, Liberty celebrated its 100-year birthday with an exhibition dedicated to the store. This in turn brought about the department and our annual selling exhibition.

In the past year we have run several exhibitions; last year we showcased Jugendstil and Secession, with objects by designers such as Josef Maria Olbrich, Josef Hoffmann, Otto Prutscher and Richard Riemerschmid to name but a few.

In February, 'Spirit of Liberty' combined the efforts of Janice Blackburn (a leading curator of modern crafts) and myself to bring together designers and craft people in a unique blend; to show the common link between Arts and Crafts as it was then, a design break-through, a time when conformity was challenged, to where it sits today, and to show Liberty's commitment to this field. The show was very well received and brought together work by Barber Osgerby (Jerwood Prize winners), Fred Baier and Rupert Spira, all of which was commissioned by Liberty, making these pieces the objects for collectors in the future. We hope to continue the show on a bi-annual basis and hope that one day it too will become as well established as the May show.

This year's exhibition shows the development the department has now taken with important architect designed pieces. These include names such as M.H. Baillie Scott (British Architect famed for 'Blackwell' the recently restored house overlooking Lake Windermere), George Walton and Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, the inspiration for the Arts and Crafts movement, famed for the interiors of the Palaces of Westminster. Sitting along-side these pieces will be more modernist designs like the Robin Day sideboard and the Alvar Aalto side table, all of which have a place within the evolution of the design movement and as designers, a place in Liberty's History.

We of course have our share of original Liberty Arts and Crafts pieces such as the Cymric silver clock and the iconic chair designed by E. G. Punnett, through to the Tudric pewter by Archibald Knox all, of which sit firmly in collections and institutions as design icons of their day.

Patch Rogers (Buyer)